January 10, 2023

 

Taiwan culls 16,000 chickens due to bird flu

16,000 chickens in Yunlin Country, Taiwan were culled after highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu was detected at two chicken farms in the area, Taipei Times reported.

 

The Yunlin Animal Disease Control Center said both farms and the surrounding areas have been disinfected to prevent the spread of the virus.

 

Poultry farmers affected by the cull will receive financial compensation.

 

In late-December 2021, Taiwan culled over 19,600 chickens due to H5N1 bird flu.

 

Falling temperatures increase the risk of contracting bird flu, according to Liao Pei-chih, director of the center, who also recommended that poultry farmers take action to eliminate bird flu virus that may be present in the environment in order to prevent further losses to the agricultural sector.

 

Liao advised poultry farmers to restrict access to their facilities and improve the sanitation of the people and vehicles that enter their farms.

 

Separately, the Tainan Animal Health Inspection and Protection Office reported that 1,088 geese were killed and burned after avian influenza was found on a farm in Jiali District, Tainan.

 

Inspectors started sampling the birds for disease the same day that the poultry farm owner reported suspicious deaths of geese on his property, the office said.

 

The geese were culled according to protocol after a Council of Agriculture laboratory confirmed on Friday that the dead birds were infected with the H5N1 subtype of the virus.

 

After the cull, the farm was cleaned and disinfected.

 

The animal health office said that it intends to carry out enhanced inspections of farms within a 5km radius as well as avian influenza tests on 48 poultry farms within a 3km radius of the site.

 

-      Taipei Times